Marushevsky in Archangel

The British chronology of the war records under 20 November 1918 that General Vladimir Marushevsky became governor-general and commander-in-chief of the Russian troops in northern Russia, at Archangel. Russian accounts state that the general arrived in the city on 19 November and from that day acted as governor-general and commander of the troops of the Northern Region. He also joined Nikolai Tchaikovsky’s Provisional Government of the Northern Region (PL), in which he took charge of the departments of internal affairs, communications, and posts and telegraphs.

Marushevsky was 44 and had a brilliant career behind him. In 1916–1917 he commanded the 3rd Special Infantry Brigade, one of the Russian brigades sent to France. Its soldiers fought in the spring of 1917 in the Nivelle Offensive, and the command of the French Fifth Army commended the brigade in an order for its gallantry and training. In the autumn of 1917 Marushevsky became Chief of the General Staff, the last in the history of the old Russian army. After the Bolshevik coup he spent not quite two weeks in prison, accused of sabotaging the armistice negotiations with Germany. Released on parole, he fled to Finland, and in August 1918 he left for Stockholm.

The government in Archangel, dominated by socialists, had from the start been unable to come to terms with the White officers. In September Commander Georgi Chaplin, commander of the region’s armed forces, even kidnapped the ministers, who were restored only at the demand of the Allied diplomats. The post of governor-general was then taken by Colonel Boris Durov, who sympathised with the government, but the officers did not trust him. A change was also urged by General Edmund Ironside, who in October had taken command of the Allied forces in Archangel and regarded the creation of a Russian army as his most important task. In November Durov resigned, and the government invited two generals to Archangel: Marushevsky from Stockholm and Yevgeny Miller, who was in Italy. According to Russian and Western accounts, Marushevsky came at the invitation of the British and French military missions. Miller, the senior in rank, was to become governor-general, with Marushevsky as his deputy. Since Miller was far away, Marushevsky took on both posts for the time being.

The general set about creating a White army in the north. He restored discipline and shoulder straps in the army, which won him the officers, while as a former chief of staff from the time of the Provisional Government he was acceptable to the socialists. Conscription went badly, however, and in December a mutiny broke out in a newly formed regiment in Archangel. Miller reached Archangel on 13 January 1919 and took over the duties of governor-general, while Marushevsky remained commander of the troops. The Northern Army grew to about 20,000 men, but it depended entirely on the British. Marushevsky left his post in August 1919 and went to Sweden.